Contraqer President Scott Keough and CEO Dwight Gibbs join host John Gilroy to discuss the challenges IT companies are having in providing goods and services to the federal government.
February 24, 2015

Political leaders from both the White House and Congress are offering up ways to improve the SES. The latest in our special report, Fixing the SES, is "Why We Stay: SES In Their Own Words." Jeri Buchholz, an SES member and chief human capital officer at NASA, is taking an enterprise-wide view of the system. She tells Federal News Radio's Emily Kopp, the SES has its faults but it's essential to the government.

The SES has lost its luster in recent years, in part because of constrained program budgets, increased scrutiny from Congress, and a sense among members that political appointees are assuming more of the leadership responsibilities once reserved for them. In part two of our special report, Fixing the SES, five Senior Executive Service members tell Federal News Radio why they choose to stay in the service, and why they believe the SES may have its faults, but it's not broken.

NASA and Microsoft have teamed up on a project to let scientists and astronauts walk virtually on Mars. Project OnSight employs new, wearable technology just released last month. For more on the program and its possibilities, Jeff Norris, NASA's OnSight program manager, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive.

Workforce planning for 2015 and beyond is on in federal agencies. The data from the Best Places to Work in Government survey is one group of information HR leaders in government will use, but it's not the only one. Jeri Buchholz is the chief human capital officer for NASA. On In Depth with Francis Rose, she said looking deep into the data is critical to making your entire agency a better place to work.

NASA is aiming to send humans deeper into space than ever before. Maybe to an asteroid, maybe to Mars. The mission presents a whole new set of technical challenges. Engineers are hopeful that an inflatable heat shield, shaped like a stack of doughnuts, will be the key to landing a large, manned spacecraft on Mars. Dr. Neil Cheatwood is NASA Langley's Senior Engineer for Advanced Planetary Entry, Descent and Landing Systems. He joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss how the heat shield will hopefully kick off the next age of space travel.

Joanne Woytek, NASA SEWP program manager, said the space agency now plans to implement the next generation of the technology GWAC by May 1 after reexamining vendor bids. In the meantime, starting in March, SEWP will give agencies more information about what they buy, who they buy from and how they buy than ever before.

NASA is still five months away from kicking off its next generation governmentwide acquisition contract known as SEWP 5. But that isn't stopping the space agency from rolling out a series of new initiatives to give customer agencies more data -- and context about their spending -- than ever before. Joanne Woytek, program manager of NASA SEWP, tells Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller about the status of SEWP V and where NASA is heading next.

Scientists are waiting for the Jan. 6 SpaceX 5 mission to carry a new scientific instrument to measure the composition of the atmosphere to the International Space Station. The Clouds and Aerosol Transport System, or CATS, is the first piece of earth-science technology developed at Goddard Space Flight Center to be deployed to the ISS.

NASA SEWP Program Manager Joanne Woytek and Rob Coen, acting director the NIH's GWAC program will discuss a wide range of issues including interagency contracting and strategic sourcing.
December 16, 2014

NASA's launch and re-entry of its Orion space capsule proved the vehicle might safely carry people into deep space. Someday. But when? That's the question NASA faces as it tries to meet ambitious deadlines with limited funds. A big challenge is developing the vehicle, the rocket necessary to launch it past the moon and the ground station support so they're all ready at the same time. The Government Accountability Office has been on top of this. Christina Chaplain, the director of acquisition and sourcing management issues at GAO joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to examine the agency's findings.

NASA's Orion is on her way home for the holidays. The spacecraft is being transported to Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a successful first test flight, splashdown, and recovery. Orion will be examined and disassembled so NASA researchers can prepare for the next stage of its Space Launch Systems programs. Mark Geyer is the Orion program manager at NASA. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with details on what comes next.

NASA SEWP Program Manager Joanne Woytek and Rob Coen, acting director the NIH's GWAC program will discuss a wide range of issues including interagency contracting and strategic sourcing.
November 18, 2014

NASA begins an official investigation into what caused the supply rocket explosion in Virginia yesterday. It's an expensive setback for the agency's strategy to rely more on contractors -- and contractor-led innovation -- to meet its mission. Lou Kerestesy is founder and CEO of GovInnovators. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said agencies are missing hidden opportunities to find innovation inside their own organizations.

NASA has a lot going on these days, and not just the investigation into Tuesday evening's explosion of a privately-operated rocket at the Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia. NASA has received high marks for employee satisfaction, and it's also moving ahead with plans to end U.S. reliance on Russia. NASA chose contractors Boeing and Space-X to transport astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017. The Tuesday crash involved a rocket made and operated by Orbital Sciences, which is not involved in astronaut transport. In an interview with Federal News Radio's Emily Kopp, Administrator Charles Bolden spoke about new rockets and why they're special.

All eyes are on NASA after the Antares Rocket exploded at the Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia on Tuesday evening. No one was injured in the blast, but an investigation into the explosion is being launched. Marcia Smith is Editor of Space Policy Online. She joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain what the explosion means for NASA's mission going forward.